Thin organic films by atmospheric-pressure ion deposition
Source abstract
Abstract
Interest in thin films of functional organic materials has increased enormously in recent years because of the wide range of possible applications. Here we report an experimental setup for processing various organic materials into thin structured films under atmospheric pressure. The technique is based on an electrospray process. Microdroplets are initially formed and dried, generating ions that are extracted by electrostatic lenses. Thin structured films are then produced by the deposition of the resulting ion beam onto a moveable target. The technique offers several interesting features, including precise control of film thicknesses. We have also made experiments to investigate structured deposition, this being the first step towards the production of thin films where in all three dimensions the chemical composition can be chosen at will. This might provide a simple approach towards creating thin structured films and composites that are currently unattainable.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications · Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics · Ion-surface interactions and analysis
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (37)
Show source-provided references
1. Fraxedas, J. Perspectives on thin molecular organic films. Adv. Mater. 14, 1603–1614 (2002).10.1002/1521-4095(20021118)14:22<1603::AID-ADMA1603>3.0.CO;2-5 ↗
2. Zhang, S., Wright, G. & Yang, Y. Materials and techniques for electrochemical biosensor design and construction. Biosens. Bioelectron. 15, 273–282 (2000).10.1016/S0956-5663(00)00076-2 ↗
3. Tvarozek, V. et al. Thin films in biosensors. Vacuum 50, 251–262 (1998).10.1016/S0042-207X(98)00050-5 ↗
4. Friend, R.H. et al. Electroluminescence in conjugated polymers. Nature 397, 121–128 (1999).10.1038/16393 ↗
5. Hebner, T.R., Wu, C.C., Marcy, D., Lu, M.H. & Sturm, J.C. Ink-jet printing of doped polymers for organic light emitting devices. Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 519–521 (1998).10.1063/1.120807 ↗
6. Chang, S. et al. Dual-color polymer light-emitting pixels processed by hybrid inkjet printing. Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 2561–2563 (1998).10.1063/1.122533 ↗
7. Scariciftci, N.S., Smilowitz, L., Heeger, A.J. & Wudl, F. Photoinduced electron transfer from a conducting polymer to buckminsterfullerene. Science 258, 1474–1476 (1992).10.1126/science.258.5087.1474 ↗
8. Granström, M., Petritsch, K., Arias, A.C. & Friend, R.H. High efficiency polymer photodiodes. Synth. Met. 102, 957–958 (1999).10.1016/S0379-6779(98)00993-X ↗
9. Inganäs, O. et al. Recent progress in thin organic photodiodes. Synth. Met. 121, 1525–1528 (2001).10.1016/S0379-6779(00)01448-X ↗
10. Sirringhaus, H. et al. High-resolution inkjet printing of all-polymer transistor circuits. Science 290, 2123–2126 (2000).10.1126/science.290.5499.2123 ↗
11. Garrnier, F., Haijlaoui, R., Yassar, A. & Srivastava, P. All-polymer field-effect transistor realized by printing techniques. Science 265, 1684–1686 (1994).10.1126/science.265.5179.1684 ↗
12. Miyata, S. & Tao, X.T. Recent progress of organic nonlinear optics in Japan. Synth. Met. 81, 99–115 (1996).10.1016/S0379-6779(96)03765-4 ↗
13. Egevskaya, T. & Borisov, G. Superthin polymeric film and its application in optics. Vib. Spectrosc. 30, 3–6 (2002).10.1016/S0924-2031(02)00032-2 ↗
14. Zarras, P. et al. Progress in using conductive polymers as corrosion-inhibiting coatings. Radiat. Phys. Chem. 68, 387–394 (2003).10.1016/S0969-806X(03)00189-0 ↗
15. Granqvist, C.G., Avendano, E. & Azens, A. Electrochromic coatings and devices: survey of some recent advances. Thin Solid Films 442, 201–211 (2003).10.1016/S0040-6090(03)00983-0 ↗
16. Sabnis, R.W. et al. Organic polymeric coatings deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 19, 2184–2189 (2001).10.1116/1.1418402 ↗
17. Walsh, C.B. & Franses, E.I. Ultrathin PMMA films spin-coated from toluene solutions. Thin Solid Films 429, 71–76 (2003).10.1016/S0040-6090(03)00031-2 ↗
18. Cecchi, M., Smith, H. & Braun, D. Method to optimize polymer film spin coating for polymer LED displays. Synth. Met. 121, 1715–1716 (2001).10.1016/S0379-6779(00)01133-4 ↗
19. Joly, S. et al. Multilayer nanoreactors for metallic and semiconducting particles. Langmuir 16, 1354–1359 (2000).10.1021/la991089t ↗
20. Jiang, S., Chen, X., Zhang, L. & Liu, M. A one-solution layer-by-layer method to fabricate ultrathin organic films. Thin Solid Films 425, 117–120 (2003).10.1016/S0040-6090(02)01095-7 ↗
21. Ram, M.K. et al. Fabrication and characterization of poly[(2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)phenylene vinylene] (MEHPPV) Langmuir-Schaefer films and their application as photoelectrochemical cells. Synth. Met. 122, 369–378 (2001).10.1016/S0379-6779(00)00396-9 ↗
22. Zhang, L. et al. Electro-optic property measurements of electrostatically self-assembled ultrathin films. Opt. Commun. 186, 135–141 (2000).10.1016/S0030-4018(00)01064-6 ↗
23. Hammond, P.T. Recent explorations in electrostatic multilayer thin film assembly. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 4, 430–442 (2000).10.1016/S1359-0294(00)00022-4 ↗
24. Alfrey, T. Jr, Gurnee, E.F. & Schrenk, W.J. Physical optics of iridescent multilayered plastic films. Polym. Eng. Sci. 9, 400–404 (1969).10.1002/pen.760090605 ↗
25. Weber, M.F., Stover, C.A., Gilbert, L.R., Nevitt, T.J. & Ouderkirk, A.J. Giant birefringent optics in multilayer polymer mirrors. Science 287, 2451–2456 (2000).10.1126/science.287.5462.2451 ↗
26. Saf, R., Mirtl, Ch. & Hummel, K. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry as an analytical tool for non-biological monomers, oligomers and polymers. Acta Polym. 48, 513–526 (1997).10.1002/actp.1997.010481201 ↗
27. Schmitt, C. & Lebienvenu, M. Electrostatic painting of conductive composite materials. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 134, 303–309 (2003).10.1016/S0924-0136(02)01114-7 ↗
28. Hoyer, B., Sørensen, G., Jensen, N., Nielsen, D.B. & Larsen, B. Electrostatic spraying: a novel technique for preparation of polymer coatings on electrodes. Anal. Chem. 68, 3840–3844 (1996).10.1021/ac9605509 ↗
29. Lapham, D.P., Colbeck, I., Schoonman, J. & Kamlag, Y. The preparation of NiCo2O4 films by electrostatic deposition. Thin Solid Films 391, 17–20 (2001).10.1016/S0040-6090(01)00965-8 ↗
30. Wilhelm, O., Mädler, L. & Pratsinis, S.E. Electrospray evaporation and deposition. J. Aerosol Sci. 34, 815–836 (2003).10.1016/S0021-8502(03)00034-X ↗
31. Tolmachev, A.V., Chernushevich, I.V., Dodonov, A.F. & Standing, K.G. A collisional focusing ion guide for coupling an atmospheric pressure ion source to a mass spectrometer. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 124, 112–119 (1997).10.1016/S0168-583X(97)00068-2 ↗
32. Lock, C.M. & Dyer, E.W. Simulation of ion trajectories through a high pressure radio frequency only quadrupole collision cell by SIMION 6.0. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 13, 422–431 (1999).10.1002/(SICI)1097-0231(19990315)13:5<422::AID-RCM503>3.0.CO;2-M ↗
33. Gidden, J., Jackson, A.T., Scrivens, J.H. & Bowers, M.T. Gas phase conformations of synthetic polymers: poly (methyl methacrylate) oligomers cationized by sodium ions. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 188, 121–130 (1999).10.1016/S1387-3806(98)14287-2 ↗
34. Schwartz, B.J. Conjugated polymers as molecular materials: how chain conformation and film morphology influence energy transfer and interchain interactions. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 54, 141–172 (2003).10.1146/annurev.physchem.54.011002.103811 ↗
35. Liu, J., Shi, Y. & Yang, Y. Solvation-induced morphology effects on the performance of polymer-based photovoltaic devices. Adv. Funct. Mater. 11, 420–424 (2001).10.1002/1616-3028(200112)11:6<420::AID-ADFM420>3.0.CO;2-K ↗
36. Shi, Y., Liu, J. & Yang, Y. Device performance and polymer morphology in polymer light emitting diodes: the control of thin film morphology and device quantum efficiency. J. Appl. Phys. 87, 4254–4263 (2000).10.1063/1.373062 ↗
37. Liu, J., Guo, T., Shi, Y. & Yang, Y. Solvation induced morphological effects on the polymer/metal contacts. J. Appl. Phys. 89, 3668–3673 (2001).10.1063/1.1349859 ↗